As they await a final vote by the Planning and Zoning Commission, residents and the developer of a proposed affordable housing development were divided this week on the plan.

The Residences at Lisbon development, planned by Brenmor Properties of Gales Ferry, consists of 18 homes on 12.9 acres facing Ames Road and South Burnham Highway. The plan was submitted under the state’s affordable housing statutes, which allow developers to bend town zoning rules, including those governing population density and lot size, so long as they designate 30 percent of their new homes to be deed-restricted as affordable. The deed restriction limits the sale prices to keep the homes affordable for families earning the area median income.

In January, the commission rejected the original plan submitted by Brenmor Properties of Gales Ferry, citing concerns about road width, parking and proximity planned wells to the roadway.

One of the biggest concerns was that the roads in the planned subdivision were less than 20 feet wide in original plans, smaller than the 26- to 28 feet width required to be accepted as a town road. In the revision, they’re all at least 20 feet across, and dead-end streets have been combined into a loop road so emergency vehicles will have better access.

Mark Vertucci, a traffic engineering consultant for the developer, said the planned 20-foot roadways would be more than adequate to accommodate light traffic and emergency vehicles.

“Nothing from a traffic safety perspective would require that the internal driveways (road within the subdivision) to be constructed to the town road standards,” he said. “It’s extremely low traffic. At any time, there would be six or seven homes served by vehicles passing along those drives.”

Of the dozen or so people at the hearing, about half were with the developer. Few residents spoke, but among them was John Algiere of Preston Allen Road, who sought information about environmental impacts of the development.

He didn’t like what he heard, he said after the meeting.

“I’m deathly afraid of the brook and the pond where it’s going to drain. Right now, it’s all woods, so everything is absorbed, but when you put in driveways and lawns, all the water will run off, and it’ll be a catastrophe,” Algiere said.

No more public input will be accepted before the commission votes on the application in April. The statutes governing the resubmission process require a decision within 65 days of the receipt of the application, which was in early February. No extensions, even those mutually agreed-upon, are permitted.